Moving Target – Daniel Sturridge

In stark contrast to their summer transfer dealings, Liverpool were quick out the blocks yesterday as the Reds made their first significant move of the winter window by snapping up Daniel Sturridge on a long-term contract from Chelsea.

The Anfield club missed out on targets such as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Clint Dempsey prior to the start of the season and having allowed Andy Carroll a loan move to West Ham, Brendan Rodgers’ attacking options have been somewhat limited in the opening five months of the campaign. After announcing the deal, Liverpool’s managing director Ian Ayre admitted the club were keen to get their business for the winter up and running:

“It was always going to be an important one. As we’ve said all along, the most important thing was to continue to strengthen the team – and clearly up front. Daniel is somebody we’ve always had in our sights and somebody the manager has had huge interest in right from the start. It was important to us that we did all of the work ahead of the transfer window in talking to Chelsea and the player and his representatives. We made sure we did that so we could have him hit the ground running in January – and here we are today on the second and we’re all done and dusted, so we’ll look forward to seeing him in a Liverpool shirt and on the pitch.”

The Statistics

For a 23-year-old, Sturridge has led a somewhat nomadic existence. A youth career that began at Coventry and Villa led the forward to Man City but, in spite of his renowned self-assurance, he struggled to make any real impact at the Etihad, with 21 appearances harvesting five goals and three assists over three seasons.

Snapped up by Chelsea in the summer of 2009 as his contract ran down, Sturridge spent a total of four seasons at the Bridge but his only real impact came mainly under Andre Villas-Boas last term. Starring on the wing in the 2011/12 campaign, he produced 11 goals and five assists from 30 appearances, compared to a combined haul of two goals and a pair of assists in 33 first-team outings over the rest of his time in London.

Indeed, Sturridge’s most impressive Premier League displays came on loan at Bolton in 2010/11. Handed a regular role at the Reebok under Owen Coyle, Sturridge – playing through the middle in a 4-4-2 – produced eight strikes in just 12 appearances; a sign of the goalscoring capabilities he hopes to bring to Anfield.

The Prospects

Upon arriving at the club, Sturridge once again reiterated a desire to play centrally but, within Rodgers’ default 4-3-3 formation, a role on the flank looks the likeliest outcome. With Luis Suarez’s displays through the middle bringing the Uruguayan 15 goals already, the former Chelsea man is expected to be handed a right flank berth, swapping wings with the likes of Raheem Sterling or Stewart Downing during matches – a tactic Rodgers has employed on plenty occasions this term.

Indeed, Sturridge’s arrival may well have a knock-on effect on the likes of Sterling. With his threadbare squad stretched to the limit this season, Rodgers has had little option but to play the teenager in every match since Gameweek 2 but cited fatigue when dropping Sterling to the bench during the recent festive fixture pileup – with more options on the flanks, he may choose to manage the teenager’s appearances slightly more efficiently. Downing’s game time is clearly at threat – he has started seven of the last eight now but Rodgers is now afforded the chance to pick and choose his wide men on either side of Suarez, while the likes of Suso and Jonjo Shelvey look set to drop further down the pecking order.

In a sense, the signing of Sturridge is somewhat at odds with Rodgers’ passing game ethos. Accusations of selfishness have been somewhat justified – the new arrival’s penchant for the spectacular, shooting from distance when a simple pass seems the obvious option; this will have to be reined in as he adjusts to his new surrounds. Rodgers talked up his new acquisition yesterday, pinpointing the qualities that persuaded him to splash the cash:

“He will give us power and presence at the top end of the field but the biggest thing is his hunger to perform. We are bringing in a player who knows he has to perform as he will be playing with one of the biggest clubs in the world. He has got quality. If he wants to stay at the top level, this is probably his last chance. I think he will prove a big hit and give us another attacking thread.”

Priced at 7.3 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and 8.5 in the Sky Sports game, Sturridge’s appeal is dented by his classification as a forward. With Sterling priced at 5.6 and listed as a midfielder in FPL, his 20% owners will be happy to hold, while Suarez’s electrifying performances surely make him the must-have Liverpool forward; therefore keeping Sturridge firmly in the Fantasy background. A regular role under Rodgers will certainly afford him the platform to justify his own self-belief but with Liverpool offering plenty other options such as Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson elsewhere, it may well take something quite spectacular for Sturridge to rocket onto Fantasy radars and come under consideration for our three-man forward lines.

Nobody in my ML will do this for their team, plus they dont have the funds, im second, but leader has been extremely lucky. Defenders are not the way to go this season, attack is, they'll be teams with same players for sure, but the teams that do will do extremely well, hence higher finish and ML victory.

Ruiz to Pog and bank the cash, it's a guarantee you will want/need to make changes in the next few weeks. You really want some flexibility if you have injuries to your front 8 or need to upgrade the likes of Sagna or Martin.It also removes any selection headaches, a big plus imho

A lot of people seem to think Fulham will spank Wigan. However, this season has been really topsy-turvy. Even the big boys get surprisingly beaten (Man Utd v Spurs & Norwich; City vs Sunderland; Chelsea vs QPR). I have a feeling Wigan will beat Fulham. I don't see any of their players as essential.

Just got back from the local newspaper. They wanted to write a piece about me and my ranking. Being number one in my country for a while had caught their attention. 80p gap at the top of their league created for all the cities inhabitants, and number one out of 48.000 in Norway was obviously worth writing about. My wife is not too impressed, she is only annoyed that I watch footy every weekend, and my daughter is too young to even care. So I thought I would share it with you guys. I know you understand me. I'm also glad I have my 16 year old students who really think I am the greatest manager that have ever lived! 🙂 And I must stress that I did not contact the newspaper. They contacted me! 😉

a lot of talk of ppl avin a front 3 of RVP-SAUREZ-KUN ive ad this since gameweek 6 and I'm currently jus inside the top 60k which i believe is worse off then most ppl on this site, granted i should of given robin the armband more often but thought id let u guy know its not all gravy...baby lol

yea I'm currently on wildcard and tempted to downgrade kun but jus cant bring myself to do it as he's only really jus started to return major points for me, if hes injured im thinking berb for 1 week and leavin the money in the bank to get him bak

Are people ACTUALLY going to go to 3-5-2, or are they just saying they are? The very idea bemuses me, I really can't see mids like Fellaini [had his day in the sun this season], Hazard [rotation], Mata [rotation] and Cazorla [superb but not for FPL, he's had his one-off haul for this season] keeping up with much cheaper [nailed on!!!] strikers like Berbatov, Benteke and Fletcher. The very idea bemuses me...

I kind of agree with HECO. My WC will probably give me some benching headaches, but I will have five midfielders I will happily play (Looking at Fell, Michu, Nolan, Mata, Bale, or maybe even Walcott instead of Nolan), which I can just afford with some uber-cheap defenders and Bunn as backup goalie.

I think the idea is that, to have a true meaningful 3-5-2, the third stiker has to be like sub 5.5 or you may as well just play the 3rd striker over the 5th midfielder unless you absolutely obliterate your defence, which only leaves options like Pogrebnyak, Carlton Cole etc who are average, non-nailed on strikers

True that, I guess the question is if you back your midfield enough to get consistent returns, I think that with a midfield of heavy hitters, some weeks will be dissapointing while others will give you some massive green arrows

I see where you are coming from, but I think that Benteke/Berbatov/Fletcher have proven that theory wrong over the course of the season so far, if you have one of them as your third striker, it also gives you loads more flexibility when injuries/suspensions start kicking in due to the availability of a decent 5th midfielder as opposed to a 3rd sriker who isn't going to deliver returns whch is who you would have to turn to if you were playing a 3-5-2, and also it frees up more money for a stronger defence IMO

Any advice on my team:I have just activated the wildcard to try and squeeze Suarez in and have £0 in the bank - any better choices I could make? I am fairly happy with it but would appreicate the opinions of others.Thanks

I've had Baines virtually all season and still think he will deliver - stubborn/stupid. Bale or Mata is the question. I think Mata will score slightly better when he plays but there is always rotation to worry about unlike with Bale. Is Sterling enough on the bench if Mata doesn't play?

Good call - thanks for the help. Any idea how I can sort my link out - I did my grav and linked team ages ago but my team link isn't actually MY team anymore, its someone from India's! Do you know how to go about linking the correct team?

When you click on my link am I still Pravin Shet? I have no idea how this happened as that is not my name and I am not from India. My team used to be correctly linked - has this happened to anyone else? I have hopefully re-linked successfully...

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